


Wings and Mist

by archeron_queens



Series: Night Vibrance [2]
Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, that was a spoiler but give this a read you'll see it's quite obvious
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 12:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15340197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/archeron_queens/pseuds/archeron_queens
Summary: A few months before her Rite, Sofiya is living in the Camp with her mother and this is the story of her, her life fighting the Illyrian prejudice and her own personal life.





	Wings and Mist

Sofiya let her weapons’ belt clank to the floor, unbraiding her hair and deftly going through the motions of getting into her bath. More often than not, she had to get through her day in a permanent state of numbness, just so the camp around her didn’t kill her. 

Every single day since her fourteenth birthday she had lived in an Illyrian War Camp, and since then she had to deal with being told she wasn’t good enough, just because she was a female. Just because she was a half-breed. But she had to succeed. If only, for all the other females before her, her mother included, whose wings had been viciously clipped at their first bleeding, who had never been taught how to protect themselves, who had never been able to taste the wind on their faces. She was the High Lord’s daughter and the camp Lord was too scared to not let her train, so she had to use that power and give them the freedom they deserved. Not that she wasn’t doing it for herself, she was ambitious and proud, and she wanted to be the first female Illyrian warrior, the first female to complete the Rite. And she wanted above all to prove all those bastards wrong.

She sat in her tub for much longer than needed, it was one of the small luxuries she was allowed, and she fully intended to make the most of it. After an unholy amount of time, she summoned back her wings and gently rubbed them with a soft washcloth and dried up quickly. She got dressed and pondered reading a book, but her sore muscles and dropping eyelids quickly made her decide otherwise. 

The cauldron, however, didn’t think to reward her with a good night’s sleep. At the exact time she was falling asleep, a knock sounded from her window. Her training had her up and at the window in a split second.

“What the hell,” she sighed, opening her window. Marcus hovered just in front of her windows, still clad in his training leathers. “What do you think you’re doing? My mum will see you, get the hell out of here, right now!”

“I just wanted to see if you were alright, I saw you leaving earlier,” he said leaning on her windowsill. “Are you seriously not going to invite me in? What sort of education did they give you in the palace?”

“Marcus. Leave,” she said pinching the bridge of her nose. “Seriously, I’m okay, just go away.”

“It’s okay, no one will see us, don’t worry. Are you alright or not?” She knew this would last a while, he wasn’t easily moved when he didn’t think she wasn’t okay so she simply secured a shield all around her room and pulled him into her room.

“Just go take a bath, I’m not having you getting my room all dirty.”

“See? Deep down, you actually love me,” he told her with a laugh, stripping down with no shame for his own nudity before her. “What happened?” he asked after a while.

“What do you mean,” she drawled from her bed, where she was reading her book, which pretty much translated to her pointedly ignoring a naked, heavily muscled Illyrian warrior bathing in her chambers.

“Sacha, you left extremely upset, those assholes may not see it, but I sure did,” he said appearing, buck naked, in her doorway.

“Just the usual. I only have to deal with them for two more months, I don’t mind it, Marcus,” she said while he appeared, clean shaved and wearing only a towel. “Why do you insist on shaving at night? The stubble doesn’t make you look more charming,” it did, though, she loved his little stubble more than she would ever admit to anyone.

“It always worked on you, dearest Lady,” he sat down next to her and tried to peer into her book, but she hid it out of his view before he could. “Am I supposed to just sleep here?”

“They already call me a slut, it’s not as though it’ll change anything. Besides, you were the one who said no one would know,” she said with a smirk.

“The second you pass the Rite, I’ll help you rip them all to shreds,” he said running his fingers through her damp hair. “Tomorrow I’ll leave early, no one will see me. If you don’t mind me staying here, that is.”

“Of course I don’t, silly,” she drawled through her sleepiness. “How was your day?”

“It was great, sweetheart. Don’t worry about it, let’s go to bed,” he pulled her to his side, and she suddenly remembered that he was clad simply in one of her towels. She felt like a lovesick child with a new crush. It was disgusting.

“Don’t work tomorrow, let’s sleep,” she said suddenly. Mother, what was she doing? She had to visit her family in Velaris tomorrow.

“You have to train for the Rite, Sacha,” he said with a small laugh at her sleepiness.

“I’m visiting my family, tomorrow, and you can just say you had some recognition work to do.”

“Cloak me, then, I’ll leave a note to Lord Devlon,” and with this he got back up again, still wearing nothing but the towel and went out the window while she placed an invisibility shield around him. Being part High Fae really had its privileges sometimes.

***  
Sacha woke up to the soft light of dawn over the steppes, Marcus’s arm draped over her waist and his other hand drawing soft circles over her shoulder. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” she drawled.

“Me? I was trying not to wake you up.”

“That was a very failed attempt, then,” she said.

“Shut up, princess,” he shoved her aside, rubbing a hand over his sleepy eyes. “Weren’t you visiting your family today?”

“Yeah, I’ll have to go there today,” she said into her pillow as she turned away from the sunlight and from the day in general.

“Won’t your mum come looking for you? Shouldn’t you, maybe, start getting ready?” he said smugly.

“Just shut up, Marcus,” she answered. 

“Tell you what, you go downstairs, get breakfast, tell your mum you’ll be late and I’ll escort you home,” he whispered into her matted hair.

“You go, I sleep.”

“Do you really wish my death so much,” he says while picking her up in his arms and making her stand up on her own, throwing her out the room. “Good luck,” is the last thing she hears before he slams the door in her face. Sofiya pads into the kitchen, her mother already wearing a simple classy gown while she eats her breakfast.

“Good morning, sweetie,” her mother said between sips of tea. “I would tell Marcus he can’t expect to leave your shield in the middle of the night to come get water and not expect his scent to be all over the place if I were you.”

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, it doesn’t suit you,” her mother laughed, her bright, clear laugh. “He’s a good male, darling, I’m happy for you.”

“What? No, nonono, we’re friends, mum, that’s it. Cauldron, I haven’t had enough sleep to deal with this.”

“Don’t be so overly dramatic. I’m teasing you, Sacha, calm down. We could use an escort, though, how trustworthy would you say he is?”

“To the mountain? He’s perfect for the job. To Velaris? Don’t even think about it,” Sofy answered while sipping her tea, steeped as strongly as she could.

“Why not? Are you inviting random strangers into your bed?”

“No, I just don’t want to burden him like that. Cauldron, do I look stupid? I know my positions means I have to be more careful than most.”

“He’s your father’s soldier, Sacha, and a grown male, I’m sure he can handle pressure,” her mother said passing her a tray of food. “Give him this, and both of you get dressed, he’s our escort for today.”

“If the Lady of the Night Court wills it, it will be done,” she bowed mockingly and left to her mother’s laugh.

***  
“Am I to know where I’m escorting you to or am I just to go with you blindly?” Marcus asked as he strapped his knives to his belt and his thighs.

“Don’t know, ask the Lady, it’s not exactly my call. If it were, you would be down there training younglings.,” Sofiya answered, drumming her fingers on her teacup. 

“And why is that,” he said, joining her near the window and combing her hair down her back.

“We’ll talk about it afterward, we’re late now, come on,” his fingers lingered on her hair but slowly he let her go, following her down the stairs.

**[To be continued] ******


End file.
